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Holder Admits to Senate: Fast and Furious Was ‘Flawed’

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Eric Holder has admitted Fast and Furious was a bad idea, but he doesn’t want that to distract the American people from efforts to disrupt the flow of guns to Mexico.

“We must be careful not to lose sight of the critical problem,” Holder said, “we are losing the battle to stop the flow of illegal guns to Mexico.”

That pretty much summarizes the Attorney General’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee today.

Holder said Operation Fast and Furious was “flawed in its concept and flawed in its execution.” He also admitted that Fast and Furious used bad tactics that “never should have happened,” but then maintained that the most important lesson learned from the botched gun sting is that U.S. efforts to end the so-called “river of steel” of U.S. guns to Mexico must be strengthened.

Holder declared that, to ensure gunwalking will not occur again, he has made it a violation of department policy that “will not be tolerated.” He also promised to implement stricter oversight procedures for anti-gun trafficking operations.

In the meantime, Holder declared that “guns that were lost during this operation [will] continue to show up at crime scenes both here and in Mexico” and that the American people will “feel the effects for years to come.”

“As someone who has seen the consequences of gun violence firsthand…I am determined to ensure that our shared concerns about Operation Fast & Furious lead to more than headline-grabbing Washington gotcha-games and cynical point-scoring.”

You can watch the video below, via Youtube, and hear Holder’s explanations in full:

Next month, Holder will testify before a less favorable House Committee chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa. It is expected he will receive less preferential treatment than today, when Democrat Senator Pat Leahy was presiding.